Decay
by bashfulglowfly
Summary: Sometimes revenge is a dish best served by a woman. Sequel to Sister Goldenhair.


Decay

By Bashfulglowfly

"I am the luckiest son-of-a-bitch in all of Amestris!"

"Roy!"

"Asshole!"

"EDWARD!" "Brother!"

"Well, I am!" insisted Roy. "I have just been promoted to Lieutenant General and in one month…" he kissed the back of Stasia's hand "…I will be marrying the most beautiful woman in all of Amestris!"

Ed snorted. "Not to mention the richest."

"**EDWARD!"** This time Winry followed it up to a punch to his shoulder.

"Ow!" Ed whined.

Lieutenant General Roy Mustang and his fiancée, Anastasia Petrakova and Stasia's two brothers Alphonse and Edward Elric and Ed's wife, Winry, were on their way to a party celebrating the founding of Amestris.

Roy, Ed and Al knew that celebrating that fact was rather hypocrital considering the reason why Amestris was founded in the first place, but it would be political suicide if Roy didn't attend. Strictly speaking, Ed didn't have to attend but if Roy was going to have to suffer, Ed was going to have to suffer as well. Besides, it scored points with Winry who enjoyed the chance to dress up in elegant clothes.

Roy hoped like hell the dress and shoes Winry was wearing would cause Ed nightmares when he received the bill…if Stasia didn't buy them for her as a gift.

The car pulled up to the entrance to General Armstrong's family residence. The house positively glittered in the lights that had been placed all around.

A footman bustled forward and opened the door. Roy and Ed got out first and then helped out their ladies. Al got out on the other side and joined them.

"Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more." Muttered Roy.

Stasia discreetly nudged him with her elbow and smiled charmingly at the other couples that had also arrived.

They entered the ballroom and Roy began circulating, greeting other officers and introducing Stasia to them and their wives.

The alcohol was flowing and the laughter grew.

"There you are, Mustang! And who is this lovely young lady?"

Roy smiled and shook the hand that was held out to him. "General Wellington, this is my fiancée, Anastasia Petrakova. Stasia, this is General George Wellington. I was under his command when I was a very green lieutenant."

"Didn't stay green for very long, did you, Mustang." General Wellington bowed over Stasia's hand. "It's a pleasure to me you, my dear. Don't let this rascal get the better of you."

Stasia blushed charmingly. Roy always wondered how she was able to that on command. Wellington chuckled and excused himself.

The band started playing and Roy playfully bowed to Stasia. "My lady, may I have this dance?" She laughed merrily and went into his arms.

Roy could see that Winry had coaxed Ed out onto the dance floor and that Al had partnered up with the daughter of a Colonel. At the end of the set, they applauded the band and Roy escorted Stasia over to the buffet. He held the plates as she filled them with bite-sized tidbits. After filling the plates they moved out of the way and were joined by Ed and Winry.

Ed grinned. "Look at Al over there, surrounded by all those girls. Lucky dog!"

Winry shook her head. "Little do they know that his heart belongs only to Mei Chang."

"Has Al decided when he is going to leave for Xing yet?" Asked Stasia.

"Couple of weeks." Replied Ed.

"It's too bad that we can't go with him." Said Winry wistfully. "I would like to see a Xingese wedding ceremony."

"According to Ling, they're looong." Said Ed. "At least he was smart enough to marry all of his wives at once. Can you imagine going through that crap 30 separate times?" He grunted as his sister stepped on his foot and his wife elbowed him in the side.

"Shit, here come General Hakuro…and he's already drunk off his ass." Muttered Roy.

The General swayed for a second when he stopped in front of the little group. He didn't seem to notice Al sliding around him and moving to Ed's other side. "So, Mustang." Hakuro slurred. "You couldn't persuade Fullmetal into your bed for your perversions so you had to settle for his slut sister. How much did she cost you?"

Others nearby began to whisper behind their hands at Hakuro's words.

Winry set her plate on the nearest table and she and Al gripped Ed with both hands to keep him from killing Hakuro right then and there, in the messiest way possible.

Stasia felt the tension in Roy's arm and saw his fingers twitch and thanked God that he had on normal gloves instead of his ignition ones.

"With all do respect, General, I believe you have had too much wine and not enough food. I'm sure you are not feeling well. Perhaps you should go home, sir."

"Home? I can't go home. I'm the Master of Ceremonies." Hakuro jerked upright and swayed. If he fell, Roy was just going to stand there and watch. Hakuro caught himself, leaned over and leered at Stasia and Winry's breasts. "Howabout later you two join me and I'll show you what it's like to be with a real man."

Ice coated Roy's every word. "I think you need to leave. Now, sir."

Hakuro sneered. "Don't get so high and mighty with me, Mustang. Grumman won't be in charge for too much longer, so you better learn who's ass to kiss." He staggered off.

"Roy?"

He held up a hand to stop Stasia from saying anything more. His dark eyes were hard as he stared off into the distance and muscles twitched in his jaw as he reined in his temper. Other officers noticed and quietly moved their ladies away.

"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him seven different ways." Raged Ed. Fortunately he managed to be relatively quiet as he said it.

"You stay the hell away from him, Ed. You do anything and that bastard is vindictive enough to have you in front of a firing squad before you know what hit you." Snapped Roy. "I don't want either of you two to go anywhere near him for the rest of the night. Do you understand."

Al nodded. "I understand."

Roy glared at Ed until the other man muttered. "Fine, I won't go anywhere near Hakuro for the rest of the night."

Roy took a deep breath. "Good. Neither shall I." He pulled Stasia close to his side and hugged her. Kissing her tenderly on the mouth, he said. "I'm sorry that you had to hear such vulgarity."

Stasia smiled up at him. "It's alright. That man will get what's coming to him." She turned to Winry. "What was it that Lan Fan told to us?"

Winry thought for a moment and then her face cleared as she remembered with a laugh. "Karma is a bitch."

"Yes, that's it."

"What the hell does that mean?" demanded Ed.

Al grinned. "It means that he'll get his."

The group began to circulate. Making sure that they didn't go anywhere near General Hakuro.

After a while, Stasia whispered softly to Roy. "You'll have to excuse me. I need to go to the ladies room." Roy nodded and softly told her where it was located. Stasia turned to Winry, spoke softly to her, Winry spoke to Ed and the two women walked away.

Ed moved up to stand next to Roy. Both men stared after their ladies and enjoyed the view from the back. "Why do women have to go to the bathroom in groups?"

"It's one of the mysteries of life, Ed." Said Roy absently. "It's something that mere men are not supposed to know."

Then Roy went on alert, Stasia and Winry changed direction. They were no longer going in a straight line that would take them into the hallway that led to the ladies room. Their new path was going to take them past General Hakuro!

Ed noticed their movement as well. "What the hell are they up to?"

Al shook his head and the three men watched closely as the two women approached Hakuro. His back was to them as he talked to another officer. Then they saw the faint flash of alchemy and Stasia brush her fingers across the tails of Hakuro's dress uniform.

"What the hell did she just do?" muttered Ed.

Al grimaced. "I don't know. It's too far away."

Roy knew that Stasia, when she used alchemy, was far subtler than he or Ed could ever be. "It's going to be interesting to find out."

Minutes later the two women returned to their side. Roy looked at Stasia who looked back at him with innocent golden eyes. Which he knew was a big lie. But he didn't say anything to her. He just watched Hakuro.

Time passed, they ate more, danced more and drank more.

Roy continued to watch Hakuro. There was something wrong but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

A colonel and his wife walked in front of him. "General Hakuro is so drunk, his uniform looks wasted!" Said the wife. The colonel snorted with laughter.

That's when Roy realized it. Hakuro's uniform was falling apart. He nudged Ed and Al and quietly told them what was going on. "Look, see the braid on his shoulder?"

"Yeah, it's unraveling." Said Al.

"Look at the satin stripe on the left leg of his trousers. It's dangling."

The three men watched in fascination as Hakuro's uniform fell apart right before their eyes…and no one seemed to notice, not even Hakuro.

Finally the event drew to a close. Hakuro got up on stage in front of the band. He and his uniform looked like hell. He gave a rambling speech and at the end, he shouted "Happy Founding Day!" and flung his arms wide.

And his uniform fell completely off.

Officers cursed and grabbed women whether they were related to them or not and yanked them around so that they were not defiled by the sight. Roy hid Stasia's face against his chest while Winry buried her face against Ed's neck.

Hakuro was naked, except for a corset around his stomach and his dress shoes.

Hakuro looked down and his face went dead white. Then it went purple with rage. He pointed at Roy. "You did this, Mustang!" The feedback from his shrieking voice over the microphone made people cringe. "I know you did this! I'm going to make you pay!"

Fuhrer Grumman strolled up stroking his mustache with one hand and holding a tablecloth with the other. He threw the tablecloth at Hakuro. "Don't be such a fool. Mustang has gone anywhere near you since you insulted him, his fiancée and his future brother- and sister-in law. Cover up and sober up." Grumman turned and walked away. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "By the way, my office, Monday. Eight am. Sharp. And have on a decent uniform!" And the Fuhrer strolled off…while managing to pat the band's singer on her sequined posterior.

The party broke up soon after.

The silence in the car was deafening. Ed and Al were looking out the windows while Winry and Stasia seemed utterly fascinated with their hands.

Roy broke the silence. "Okay, what the hell do you do to him."

Stasia blinked. "What did I do to whom?"

"Stasia…" Came the growl.

"Well, the whole stage thing wasn't planned, I didn't know that he'd be up there when the array concluded."

Ed stared at her. "So part of the array you made had to do with time. What was the major component? It had something to do with his uniform falling apart."

Stasia chewed on her lip.

Roy spoke again. "Stasia…"

"Fine." She huffed. "Decay. The major component was decay."

The three men stared at each other then roared with laughter.

Roy soundly kissed Stasia, making her toes curl. "You are the most beautiful and most devious woman in the world. The fact that you are going to be by my side for the rest of my life makes me the luckiest son-of-a-bitch in all of Amestris!"


End file.
